It seems like just about every other week, I hear news about another health benefit of wine. Today I read what I consider to be one of the best possible health benefits of wine consumption. In “Drink wine, don’t get sunburned,” Melissa Dahl says that “a compound found in grapes or grape derivatives may protect skin cells from skin-damaging ultraviolet radiation…”
Woo hoo! As somebody who got far too much sun exposure as a fair-skinned kid in Southern CA, I find this news very refreshing. Of course, I seriously doubt that a lot of wine consumption now will make up for years of sun exposure then. But you never know.
Without doing serious investigative work, you also don’t know how serious the research is. Was the research done on rats or on humans? How much wine do you need to consume to get the benefit? Can everybody benefit? Does the consumption of wine need to occur shortly before the consumption of sun? The questions are endless.
Over the past few years, I’ve heard of many other wonderful health benefits associated with wine consumption. Wine consumption can delay the onset of dementia. Wine consumption can protect your heart. Wine consumption can protect against strokes. And on and on. Each of these benefits results in more questions.
Wouldn’t it be great if a doctor could prescribe the exact dosage of wine we should consume at every moment of every day to get the utmost benefit out of our wine consumption? 🙂 But could that make wine consumption a bit stressful?
While I get a bit of a rush every time I hear about new health benefits of wine, I’m doing my best to stay level headed about all the news. I remind myself that my primary reason for drinking wine is enjoyment. If there are some health benefits that come along for the ride, that’s all the better. But the wine itself is reward enough.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
As an independent wine consultant with WineShop At Home, I absolutely enjoy bringing a taste of the Napa wine country home to you one sip at a time. Whether you simply love to drink wine, seek a special personalized wine gift, or are in search of a new wine jobs opportunity as a wine consultant, feel free to contact me for a truly unique wine tasting experience!
Cheers,
Betty Kaufman, WineShop At Home
8 comments
I LOVE this!! I am Irish and if drinking more wine will mean that I want turn into a lobster a few times each summer (even with constant SPF applications) then SIGN ME UP!! That is one I had not heard and I will send this to my family. Thank you!!
I love it too. I can’t wait to meet you at an upcoming BABRG meeting. I’m guessing we can compete for the fairest skin around 🙂
I love it. I think that wine should be enjoyed and it relaxes us, taking stress away. Its great that we can enjoy wine and it also has great health benefits. Everything in moderation! Now to just have some dark chocolate with the wine! Talk about compounding health benefits!!
I second everything you said, Stephanie. Thank you. And yeah, dark chocolate and wine. That’s a hard combination to beat. Cheers!
I am always happy to learn about more reasons to drink wine! But, like you, Betty, I mainly do it because I enjoy the whole experience of it…the taste, the glass it’s in (LOVE my new glasses!), the scent, the romance, the ambiance, the relaxation, how it makes food taste better, etc. etc.!
Thank you so much for your comments. I love all the words you used to describe the wine tasting experience!
Cool so i can drink and stay in the sun heck with it I think Saturday will do nicely!
One mroe thing I know having some wine makes me smile, reduces stress and in moderation I do feel better. Very unscientific yet quite true!
Alan, thank you so much for your comments. I couldn’t agree with you more. Cheers!